A right-to-know request we shouldn't have had to file. Were Plymouth Township officials contacted by Governor Shapiro about data centers?

As MoreThanTheCurve.com has previously reported, we asked the five members of Plymouth Township’s council if it had been contacted by Governor Josh Shapiro or others in his administration about data centers generally or specific to the application for 900 Conshohocken Road. They did not answer the question.

Today, July 31, we filed a right-to-know (view) for any emails, letters, and memoranda sent to the township from Governor Shapiro or Ben Kirshner, who heads the governor’s Office of Transformation and Opportunity. Kirshner is the governor’s point person on data centers.

We shouldn’t have had to do this. It was a simple question. It was a yes-or-no question. Now it could tie up staff, generate legal fees, etc.

The right-to-know requested these documents between June 1, 2025, and July 31, 2026. We chose June 1, 2025, because on June 5, Governor Shapiro made his public announcement about Amazon’s investment in the state and a plan to develop several data centers. During that statement, the governor specifically offered to help secure sites and local support. From that statement:

Our team worked closely with local leaders and Amazon to land this deal, and we continue to be actively engaged on securing additional sites in Pennsylvania – helping them secure local support, developing the infrastructure needed to support more data centers, and ensuring our permitting processes move quickly and efficiently.

Is the governor lobbying Plymouth’s local officials? That’s part of this major news story that hasn’t been told yet. If the governor is lobbying, what is the pitch to local officials? How strong is the pressure? How are they responding?
If you want to support this right-to-know request, send one too. You can find the form here. Below is the specific request to paste into the document.

Any emails with a pa.gov address from 06/01/2025 to 7/31/2026 from Governor Josh Shapiro or Ken Kirshner

Any letters or memorandum received by the townhip from Governor Josh Shapiro or Ken Kirshner from 06/01/2025 to 7/31/2026.

Any letters or memorandum from the Governor’s Office of Transformation and Opportunity 06/01/25 to 7/31/2026.

Please note, that this request mirrors the governor’s announcement about his support for data centers and his stated committment to help secure sites and garner local support.

A right-to-know request we shouldn’t have had to file. Were Plymouth Township officials contacted by Governor Shapiro about data centers?